Phone, Tablet and Gizmo Thread #0x02

member_20292 · Post by **member_20292** » 20 Dec 2012 13:51

Just googled S40..

Itna bhi basic nahi saar!

What I am talking about is, a 10000 Rs phone, hardware as reliable as Nokias, OS as reliable as Apple. Google integration like android. Nokia maps and navigation and offline navigation like, well, Nokia windows 7.5 and 8 phones.

ANd reliability !

Jai Hind.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 21 Dec 2012 00:02

Are you willing to wait for such a phone?

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 21 Dec 2012 02:24

Gentlemen, I need your advice.
I came across this Indian e-Commerce website, a new one. On it was listed a 13" Mac for Rs. 1410 INR
http://s004.radikal.ru/i207/1212/50/b3367af66b1e.jpg

With shipping charges, I'd be charged 1692 bucks
http://s09.radikal.ru/i182/1212/fc/b1e2ccf3380a.jpg

I paid.
http://s003.radikal.ru/i203/1212/89/e106b1b93707.jpg

I got confirmation. Checked. Only the said amount has been transferred
http://s001.radikal.ru/i194/1212/fd/5bb02f5004ac.jpg

Now the thing is, since this is a brand new site, I'm inclined to believe it is an easter egg - a windfall for the finder. But, realistically, I kind of know it is a typo

In case, they refuse to honor my purchase, do I have a strong case if I decide to take it up in the court?

If they transfer back my money, I don't think I'd get into the hassle of a court case, but I'd still like to know where I'd stand on this.

TIA

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 21 Dec 2012 06:56

Usually bank transfers are harder to reclaim. Credit cards are insured against fraud so your credit card company will give you back the money in case of fraud. The company website seems to be in Russia (.Ru) I would keep my fingers crossed.

Never ever give out bank details.

member_20292 · Post by **member_20292** » 21 Dec 2012 09:26

Raja Bose wrote:Are you willing to wait for such a phone?

Bataiye...kaunsa model ke baare main soch rahen hain aap?

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 21 Dec 2012 10:02

^ I think radikal.ru is probably an image hosting site.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 21 Dec 2012 11:13

^^

In the contact us, the address mentioned is of Bangalore, but phone number is starting with 022-

Tell us, after you received the product. Because MacPro with following specs is selling just for 1410.5/- only.

2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3 MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
2 GB RAM (two SO-DIMM) 677 MHz DDR2 SD-RAM (PC2-5300), 200 GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, slot load 8x Super Drive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
One FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, two USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard/34 slot
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit); built-in 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme (802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
15.4-inch (diagonal), 1440 by 900 resolution, matte TFT LED widescreen display with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory and dual-link DVI.

Adder later: Hiten garu, you can forget about your money, probably you have not noticed this message at the top.
This is a beta version of the website. Any orders placed through this website will not be honored or fulfilled.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 21 Dec 2012 15:14

looks like apple store employees have a lot of fun with customer photos
http://gizmodo.com/5968284/exclusive-co ... ss-america

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 21 Dec 2012 15:32

Is it true Apple A6x processor is manufactured by Samsung?

Damn my pet favourite is Milagrow, waiting of for a Jelly bean software, A-9 processor tab.

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 21 Dec 2012 16:27

It was a typo on their part. Got a call from the retails people. They said they've cancelled my order and will be refunding my money within two days. Didn't push them on the 2 days issue.

Also said once operational they would send me a special price offer

@kmkraoind
That message wasn't actually there this early morning when I placed the order. In fact, I'm quite sure they put it because I or people like me called them up today. Also placed order for the Pro after I posted here

2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor
8 GB DDR3 RAM; 750 GB Hard Drive
15.4 inch LED-backlit display,glossy widescreen display 1440-by-900 resolution
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1GB Graphics
Mac OS X v10.8 Mountain Lion, 7 Hour Battery Life
15.4 inch LED-backlit display, 1440-by-900 resolution
Mac OS X v10.8 Moutain Lion, 7 Hour Battery Life

its showing 1488 bucks

Just to err on the side of caution, prior to the first transaction, I transferred most of the money out of that account, keeping only the bare minimum

I normally stick to only few verified genuine stores operating in India. Slipped this time.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 21 Dec 2012 16:30

indian website with .ru registration ?

ok that ru website is image hosting....what website did you place the order ???

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 21 Dec 2012 17:00

radikal.ru is an image host. Site is a bit NSFW, though. Prefer not going there. I use this image uploader, instead
http://code.google.com/p/image-uploader/

The store is called Hop Shop Drop. Bengaluru postal address, with Mumbai landline number. Yes, on hindsight it looks totally fishy, yet, the prices quoted for Apple products, made me overlook everything. I changed my Net banking password & ATM pin subsequently

member_20292 · Post by **member_20292** » 21 Dec 2012 21:47

raja bose ji kuch keh rahe the aap???

ritesh · Post by **ritesh** » 23 Dec 2012 19:57

Gurus, i will be in the market for a laptop, budget under Rs 40K, in a couple of month's time.
Which brand/ model would be the optimum choice.
My needs is little bit of office work(MS Off), lots of browsing, little of audio/video delights.
Which brands should i consider, HP, Dell, Sony Lenovo ?
Min reqs, i3 Intel, 500 GB HDD, 15inch screen, 2 GB RAM, Win 8.
Also, one more suggestion, should i buy from online store(Flip) or Croma or other Electronic stores.
Regards

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 23 Dec 2012 20:23

ritesh wrote:Gurus, i will be in the market for a laptop, budget under Rs 40K, in a couple of month's time.
Which brand/ model would be the optimum choice.
My needs is little bit of office work(MS Off), lots of browsing, little of audio/video delights.
Which brands should i consider, HP, Dell, Sony Lenovo ?
Min reqs, i3 Intel, 500 GB HDD, 15inch screen, 2 GB RAM, Win 8.
Also, one more suggestion, should i buy from online store(Flip) or Croma or other Electronic stores.
Regards

If you want to buy in "couple of months" then please wait for few more months. Reason for that is the fact that many companies are doing same: Waiting.

Windows 8 is new, and puts emphasis on touch and have given birth to many new form factors.. companies want to see which form factor will succeed. They are also facing all kinds of component shortages relating to touch panels etc, some reports have suggested that there are shortages of intels chips. Then just a day back I read that many companies have delayed some PCs because of some driver related issues. Also most companies have chosen to launch devices some time later so that their marketing money can get better returns.

Apart from all that, one major reason to delay this purchase is because you will get better hardware if you will wait.

1) Intels next gen chip haswell which will have better everything (battery life) will be launched in Q2 2013. This will also affect prices of existing ivybridge chips
2) SSD prices are crashing, if you will wait littler longer you may get 250GB ssd in your budget.
3) Current Windows 8 PCs have terrible screen resolution, you may get more PPIs in your budget if you will wait.

--

If you are planning to use this for MS Office, surfing, and music/video.. have you considered Windows RT (Surface etc) ?

ritesh · Post by **ritesh** » 23 Dec 2012 20:33

^ Ready to wait little more longer & consider everything worth there w/o breaking my bank

habal · Post by **habal** » 24 Dec 2012 18:05

out there which would be the *cheapest* android smartphone that could play a memory intensive game like Asphalt 7 without lags. Any suggestions pls in this regard.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 24 Dec 2012 18:29

Anmol, your advice on Tablet with INR 20-22K budget. Woould prefer to stay out of Apple ecosystem.

WIndows 8/7 based tablets should be outside budget. So I think it should Android 4.1 Jellybean and ARM Cortex A-9 processor, with alteat 8.5 Inch screen. Again Intel processor would take the tablet out of budget.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 24 Dec 2012 23:22

umm.....there is nothing called the iPad 4 unless Marten mullah, joo are special friend of bawarchi.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 25 Dec 2012 00:02

Aditya_V wrote:Anmol, your advice on Tablet with INR 20-22K budget. Woould prefer to stay out of Apple ecosystem.

WIndows 8/7 based tablets should be outside budget. So I think it should Android 4.1 Jellybean and ARM Cortex A-9 processor, with alteat 8.5 Inch screen. Again Intel processor would take the tablet out of budget.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9" ? I think MortJi would know more about this.

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 25 Dec 2012 02:48

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 will fit the bill nicely. Decent middle of the road tablets, with Jelly Bean.

I own one (7 inch) and am quite happy with it.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 Dec 2012 03:59

If one is looking to buy an Android tablet, I see no reason not to go with Nexus7 or Nexus10. At least to me they are much soup-e-rear than any of the other Android tablet offerings.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 25 Dec 2012 17:08

Amzon Kindle fire and Nexus 10, 7 available in India?

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 25 Dec 2012 18:50

Aditya_V wrote:Amzon Kindle fire and Nexus 10, 7 available in India?

http://www.indiaplaza.com/kindle-fire-h ... e07-10.htm <<< Found this.(not sure about this site though)

Nexus 7* (Rs 20,000) is available. Don't know about 10.

* I didn't advise this because you asked for something with at least 8" screen but as BoseJi said this is really the best android tablet.
--

Please also consult with with MortJi. Also keep in mind that companies will soon launch many new tablets at CES(jan) and MWC(feb).

sampat · Post by **sampat** » 25 Dec 2012 19:20

Raja Bose wrote:umm.....there is nothing called the iPad 4 unless Marten mullah, joo are special friend of bawarchi.

it's the Newest Ipad (version 4) realesed alongside with mini. faster processor and lightning connector are the main changes.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 Dec 2012 19:57

there are only 3 iPad models that I know of which bawarchi peddles right now....iPad2, iPad mini and the new iPad with retina (intro'ed earlier this year)....yeh chautha iPad model kab se aagaya??

Perhaps its a minor HW upgrade to standardize connectors?

Starting my surface-as-laptop-replacement-while-traveling test today. The Surface feels like a compromise device (till now) but a good compromise....it was much easier to go thru security at airport since its slimmer/lighter but the touch cover keyboard seems to feel the void for a physical keyboard that was always missing in my iPad/Nexus7 without adding noticeable weight/thickness. Mucho easier to type posts on BRF while waiting for plane.

Also tried out the Kindle app on Win8 RT - it works but not impressed at all plus still has bugs. Surprisingly found it a better device to read than the Nexus 7 despite weight due to larger screen despite it being widescreen (was reading Ashok Kamte's biography To the Last Bullet) - I guess Mahdi was right in choosing 9.7" for the iPad. Folding the touch cover behind the back does give a better grip.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 25 Dec 2012 20:06

anmol wrote:

Please also consult with with MortJi.

I will if he has some time and energy left after Mizzile flight op programmes.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 25 Dec 2012 20:28

RB

there was a slightly rejigged IPAD 3 (the one with the retina display) released along with mini IPAD- had the new processor and the lightning connector

I believe thats what people call the IPAD 4

of course in Apple's naming scheme its all IPAD

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 25 Dec 2012 20:37

Might have got introduced while I was up in the Himalayas hence no recollection

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 25 Dec 2012 21:51

I am looking for a good "user experience" comparison between iPhone and Windows 8 phones and/or iPad Vs Surface. Preferably by non geeks. Any pointers? Thanks.

member_20292 · Post by **member_20292** » 25 Dec 2012 23:04

sister just got the iphone 5.

Tall screen. Otherwise...nothing fancy I guess. Its not jailbroken (IOS6 ) yet. And sister is not the type to do so as well.

Android...OTOH...the Cyanogen, the options you have on the camera, amongst other things, blow the plain apple Ios out of the water.

The Ios is faar more Polished though. Smooth as silk.

Abhijeet · Post by **Abhijeet** » 25 Dec 2012 23:49

Marten, how is typing on the Nexus 7? On the Galaxy Nexus, typing especially in portrait is enough of a pain that I want the laptop for emails longer than a few sentences. I'm wondering how the keyboard feels with a 7" screen.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 26 Dec 2012 00:18

ShauryaT wrote:I am looking for a good "user experience" comparison between iPhone and Windows 8 phones and/or iPad Vs Surface. Preferably by non geeks. Any pointers? Thanks.

I found windows 8 phone tiles to be very intuitive and more user friendly than the iPhone icons. I have a nokia lumia 920 and am loving it. very clean and intuitive design, nice flows, and easy to understand pretty quickly. iPhone definitely has more apps. I guess you can find an app for any situation now

I am not such a big user of apps. I have a basic set of apps, and am happy with it. And setting up emails, and particularly the live tiles on WP8 are pretty cool, and you get used to it.

My friend has a surface, and it seems to be pretty slick too. The stand and the keyboard cover are pretty neat, and very useful. Has a USB slot too, compared to the iPad.

My personal opinion is that Windows 8 phone & surface are pretty good. But MS doesn't have the reputation of "coolness" that apple has. So it tends to lose out.

Abhijeet · Post by **Abhijeet** » 26 Dec 2012 00:38

Is there anything like YouTube but for audio only? Legal sites only please. I use YouTube mostly to listen to songs but it seems a waste to be streaming the video as well. Is there another site with legal streaming audio for free, available outside the US? Pandora/Spotify seem geared towards a subscription model or region-limited. It's surprising there isn't a YouTube clone for audio only -- it seems like it would be easy enough to strip out the audio from any of the YouTube videos if the labels were worried about piracy.

sampat · Post by **sampat** » 26 Dec 2012 01:23

Abhijeet wrote:Is there anything like YouTube but for audio only? Legal sites only please. I use YouTube mostly to listen to songs but it seems a waste to be streaming the video as well. Is there another site with legal streaming audio for free, available outside the US? Pandora/Spotify seem geared towards a subscription model or region-limited. It's surprising there isn't a YouTube clone for audio only -- it seems like it would be easy enough to strip out the audio from any of the YouTube videos if the labels were worried about piracy.

saavn.com for desi music. groovershark for angreezi.

Abhijeet · Post by **Abhijeet** » 26 Dec 2012 01:51

Thanks sampat. Will try those out.

Thanks for the feedback Marten.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Dec 2012 01:54

Acer to introduce a $99 tablet per WSJ.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 26 Dec 2012 04:30

Abhijeet wrote:Marten, how is typing on the Nexus 7? On the Galaxy Nexus, typing especially in portrait is enough of a pain that I want the laptop for emails longer than a few sentences. I'm wondering how the keyboard feels with a 7" screen.

Typing on N7 is paindabutt otherwise I really like what Chacha/Asus did once they fixed the quality issues (ok media offerings on Play store are sparse but that is an ecosystem/licensing issue not a device issue). In fact typing on any touchscreen is paindabutt, Mahdi be damned. Win8 has a pretty good touchscreen kb but even something as basic as the touch cover blows any touchscreen keyboard out of the water. The funny thing is with the touch cover if the audio cue is turned on, it improves typing significantly and perhaps ~80-85% makes up for the lack of mechanical feedback.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 26 Dec 2012 04:32

Abhijeet wrote:Is there anything like YouTube but for audio only? Legal sites only please. I use YouTube mostly to listen to songs but it seems a waste to be streaming the video as well. Is there another site with legal streaming audio for free, available outside the US? Pandora/Spotify seem geared towards a subscription model or region-limited. It's surprising there isn't a YouTube clone for audio only -- it seems like it would be easy enough to strip out the audio from any of the YouTube videos if the labels were worried about piracy.

What piracy-viracy, hain??? Go to http://www.listentoyoutube.com/, copy-paste your YouTube URL and extract MP3 in seconds...no fuss, no muss.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 26 Dec 2012 04:36

ShauryaT wrote:I am looking for a good "user experience" comparison between iPhone and Windows 8 phones and/or iPad Vs Surface. Preferably by non geeks. Any pointers? Thanks.

UX wise both are pretty good but Fruit Co scores in apps at least for the short-term. Mickey still needs to fix some holes in their Modern UI so right now I would say iOS is soup-e-rear. Chacha has made big strides in improving UX but they have to do a lot more - their UI design still feels very engineering/geek centric as if design decisions were all made based on some numerical score rather than feel.